Among Wolves
by littlebiter
Summary: Sam deserves to have a kid. So what will he do when he finds a teenage girl thrust upon him?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mercy Thompson series, Patricia Briggs does. Please don't sue, I'm broke enough as it is ;-;

Chapter 1

It was just a regular day for Mercy. She had gone to work at the shop, had practice at the dojo, stopped by to see Adam, and was now walking across the field to her own trailer. Sam's car was parked out front so he'd gotten home sometime after she'd gone to see Adam. She entered the trailer to see Sam sitting at the kitchen table, phone still in hand and off,the dial tone screeching at us both. He was completely spaced out and Mercy feared that he'd finally lost it.

"Sam?"

"She's coming." He whispered, breathlessly. His eyes stayed fixed on the wall across from him.

"Who's coming Sam?" Mercy asked gently.

"My daughter."

It took Samuel a few minutes to convince Mercy that he hadn't lost his mind and he did indeed have a daughter. Apparently, the girl from Texas hadn't gone through with the abortion.

"So she's coming here. Why?" It had been 16 years since the incident in Texas after all. Why would she send the kid here now?

"I don't know." Sam answered truthfully. Scary scenarios started playing through his head but he shook them off. He wasn't going to let silly suspicions ruin this opportunity. "She said she'd already scheduled an appointment with the hospital for a DNA test at noon tomorrow."

"She's coming that soon?" Mercy asked slightly surprised. Sure, Sam was bound to rush things but why would a sixteen year old girl push so urgently to see a father she'd never seen? Maybe... but something smelled fishy.

"She said it was urgent and that Amy was really looking forward to seeing me." The last words brought a smile to his face that Mercy had never seen before. He was happier than he'd been when they were dating. And in this situation that was dangerous. He wasn't thinking about all of the oddities of the situation, but then again, after all that had happened over the past two years maybe she was just being paranoid. Being constantly afraid of vampire attacks and bigoted organizations could do that to a person. He deserved to be happy.

"Do you have any idea where she's going to stay? There's not exactly a lot of room around here."

"Well actually…" The smile on his face troubled Mercy and she prepared for the worse. "I was hoping you'd let me add another room onto the trailer."

Okay, she hadn't been _that_ prepared. "No."

"It's only one room and I'm paying for it."

"That is exactly why I won't let you do it." Mercy said defiantly.

"…."

"So how are you going to explain to Adam why I'm sleeping in your living room?"

A/N: Hey y'all. So it's kinda obvious that this was short, but I promise they'll get longer. I know I'm not that great at grammar too, so if you have anything that you feel inclined to point out feel free to do so ^^ And thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 2 should be published soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own

Chapter 2

Amy got out of the car slowly and warily eyed the trailer. Her grip on the DNA tests tightened as the fear of the unknown grew stronger. _How am I suppose to pull this off?_

"Just remember that you can't lie." The words were whispered so softly that Amy was almost certain that the occupants of the trailer couldn't hear them. Still, the woman's remark annoyed her. As if she didn't know about werewolves!

Giving the woman a glimpse of her unemotional mask she nodded and asked impatiently, "Can we hurry up please?"

The red haired woman laughed as she got out of the car and went to open the trunk. Amy followed her and retrieved her duffle bag of clothes and possessions. There wasn't much, but then again Amy didn't own much. There had never been enough time or means to amass the amount of material that most girls her age possessed.

The door was answered quickly after the second knock and Amy came face to face with him. They shared the same hair color, the freckles that graced their cheeks were identical but, the similarity in their looks could not be what had alarmed him so much. He was staring at her in what she could only guess was shock. Self consciously she turned her crystal blue eyes away from his face to stare at the oak tree to the side of the trailer. "Hello." She greeted politely.

"Hi." Samuel answered. He replaced his surprised expression with a bright smile and turned to greet the other woman who was definitely not his ex girlfriend. "I'm Samuel, and you are?"

"Angie. Amy's aunt." The red haired woman greeted. "Veronica had some unavoidable work to take care of so I brought Amy over."

Amy chanced a glance in her father's direction and took note of his baffled and slightly suspicious expression. It only lasted a second but she found his confusion over her mother's lack of appearance comforting, as well as slightly embarrassing. She hated it when people asked her where her mother was and she had to find some way to explain her absence. More often than not her explanations got her looks of pity, something which she found utterly degrading. _I don't need her to baby me, thank you very much._

"Won't you come on in." Samuel invited, stepping to the side of the door. Angie entered first, closely followed by her niece. Angie took a sweeping assessment of the trailer and smiled politely.

"How very quaint." She complimented. Amy bit back the urge to snort. Her aunt always felt compelled to say something nice about everything and everyone, even if she had to search for some obscure word that would sound like a compliment. 'Quaint' was a word she often used for smaller and more plain things that she came across. It was the same word she had used when describing the popsicle stick bird cage she'd made for her when she was six. Despite her aunt's hidden opinions of the house, Amy admired the feel of the house. Safe andcomfortable.

Samuel offered to get them something, to which Angie accepted and asked for water but Amy refused with a polite shake of her head. When Samuel returned with the cup of water Amy abruptly handed him the paperwork she had been clutching in her hand. "The hospital said they already had a sample of your DNA." She said in way of explanation. Samuel took the offered papers, skimmed over them, and set them to the side. Samuel's apparent lack of concern over the truth of her paternity was unsettling to her. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…

"Well look at the time!" Her aunt exclaimed, pretending to actually look at the number of the clock around her wrist. "I really have to be going. Important business to attend to and all."

It was a blatant lie. Amy knew very well that her aunt had nothing to do today, or any other day for that matter. Ah, the privilege of generational wealth. Being the curious little thing she was, Amy paid close attention to Sam's reaction to the lie. He smiled and nodded, showing her to the door, but his smile was a little too stiff to completely hide his true feelings. Amy took note of it and summarized that her father wasn't impressed by her aunt's show of manners. Good for him.

A/N: Yay! Thanks for reading this far ^^ Oh, and just so you know, I have up to chapter 3 written out and I'm working on chapter 4 as we speak. Any comments are welcome, and again I'm sorry for the shortness. I'm kinda use to doing RP's where I never have to write more than a few paragraphs at most . And thank you again! I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mercy Thompson Series

Chapter 3

Samuel shut the door and watched the woman drive away before turning back to his daughter. She was dressed in a nicer looking blue shirt with three quarter length sleeves and a white lacy undershirt to make up for the low dip in the front. Her jeans were clean but well worn and her shoes, some off brand of black ankle high converse, were also well worn. Her hair that was so like his own hung loose around her freckled heart shaped face. Her eyes stayed darted around the trailer if she was waiting for something to pop out of nowhere at any moment. The crystalline color of her eyes had frightened him at first because they were the eyes of his wolf. He had gotten over his fright quickly after a sniff from his nose told him that she was entirely human, but some part of him hoped that there was some wolf somewhere in there. Wolves had longer life spans.

However, after getting over how wolf like her eyes had been he'd been even more disturbed by the way she carried herself. She'd been looking him in the eye when she spoke to him, not in a challenging way though. Her gaze seemed to be calculating and mistrusting, as if she expected him to lie to her. Her stance was guarded with shoulders hunched and whenever she wasn't speaking she tried to hide her face with her curtain of shoulder length hair. She allowed him to be at her back but she wasn't a werewolf that perceived small things like that as a threat. Every muscle in her body seemed to be tense, and her scent was practically oozing fear, nervousness, and frustration.

"So Amy. Is that short for anything?" Samuel asked casually.

The girl nodded and turned to look him in the eyes again before answering. "Amelia."

"That's pretty. Do you prefer Amy though?" She shrugged and her eyes returned to speculating the room.

Samuel took the glass Angie had been using to the sink. "Why don't you sit down and make yourself comfortable." The way she sat reminded him of a trained dog. She didn't seem any more comfortable sitting there, back ramrod straight and hands in lap, than she had standing. "Well Amy, I'm Samuel but you could call me Sam or whatever else you might be comfortable with." When she didn't answer he continued on, "I was adding on a room to the trailer for you. It's not done yet so until it is you could sleep in my room and I'll take the couch."

"That's not necessary."

Samuel was relieved that he'd final gotten a word out of her and sat down across from her with a smile. "Don't worry about it. Besides, it'll drive Mercy nuts."

"Mercy?"

"She actually owns the trailer and I'm living with her."

"Oh."She didn't seem very interested in the topic. Wouldn't any other child in her situation want to know if their parent was dating or at least why he didn't have a place of his own? Apparently she didn't care. There were a few minutes of silence as Samuel continued to dissect all of his daughter's actions and she never tried to break the uncomfortable silence.

He heard Mercy's car pulling up long before Amy's human ears could, but he noticed the minute she heard the car too. Her already stiff posture became rigid and her eyes zeroed in on the door and window. Her face didn't betray any of her emotions, but her scent did. Fear and adrenaline was racing through her system.

"That should be Mercy." Sam explained, hoping to ease his daughter's worries. It didn't work.

Mercy came in and smiled at the girl. "Hello. I'm Mercy."

Amy stood and introduced herself with a simple, "Amy."

"Nice to meet you. Have you been here very long?"

"No."

"Do you like Washington so far?"

A shrug.

"Where are you from?"

"Indiana."

"Really? I've never been. What is it like there?"

"Corn fields, cows, and forest. Mild climate."

"Why don't you sit down? I picked up carry out for dinner. Do you like Chinese?"

Another shrug, followed by sitting down. As soon as she had her back to Mercy, Mercy gave him a look which clearly stated '_this-is-going-to-be-hell'_. Samuel shot her one of his own that said _'leave-her-alone-she's-just-nervous'_. Mercy rolled her eyes.

The rest of the night went similarly. Whenever Mercy and Sam tried to get her engaged in a conversation, Amy gave them the shortest polite answer possible. When dinner was done, Sam showed her here to put her things and where the bathroom was. He asked her if she needed anything and she told him no so he let her go off to shower.

"Something is wrong with her." Mercy said as soon as she heard the water was on. "I'm not saying it's her fault at all, but there's something wrong."

Samuel nodded and sighed heavily. "Her mom didn't even drop her off. The lady that did ran out of her the second she got a chance. I'm pretty sure whatever is wrong is their fault."

Mercy nodded in agreement. "This is going to be one hell of a ride."

Samuel couldn't agree more.

A/N: Sigh... Yes I realize that my chapters are pathetically short. I'm working on it . Hopefully when I get to the more action filled parts of the story I will be able to writ longer chapters. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope your enjoying the reading as much as I enjoy the writing!  
And a special thanks to my bro for being the first reviewer. You're awesome man! :D  
Chapter four coming outin a few days ^^


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mercy Thompson seies

Chapter 4

He had seemed nice enough, but looks were deceiving. The nicer they seemed, the more likely they would be to torture you to death. Either way, I had no intentions of getting closer to this man. The fact that I was even here was an attribute to the effectiveness of my grandmother's threats. Evil bitch made me glad I was useless at magic. I knew enough about it to protect myself, in some cases, but I couldn't cast so much as one measly protection spell. I shudder to think what would have become of me if I had been one of the gifted. I'd seen all too well how an innocent child could fall victim to the hands of greed and power; a fate I might have considered myself lucky to escape. But, as grandmother said it, I was gifted in a different way.

Unconsciously, I clutched my shoulder and a shudder ripped its way through my body. At least, I conceded, I still had the will to resist.

I was lying in bed, awake and alert. Mercy had left for bed an hour ago and I assumed she was asleep by now. However, Samuel was up. He must have been on the phone because I could barely here his muffled voice through the door which I had conveniently left cracked open. How long would this man continue to talk?! It was ruining all my plans. It was already one in the morning! Shouldn't he be asleep by now? 'Emergency room doctor' my aunt had said. I assumed that meant that he would be at work by now, but apparently he'd taken the night off for me. As I said before, he was too nice.

Everything went quiet. No more talking could be heard and I waited to hear him laying down on the couch. I never heard it, but an hour later I decided that I'd given him enough time to fall asleep and quietly snuck out of my own bed.

I was still in jeans so all I had to do was slip on my tennis shoes. My bag was beside the door and I gingerly lifted it from the floor as I slid the door open. Tip toeing, I made it to the living room and saw the massive man sprawled out over the couch.

My hand touched the door knob in front of me and I felt my heart beat quicken. If I could just make it out the door…

"Meow."

My back went rigid and I stood perfectly still. Ever so slowly, I turned to look over my shoulder at the man on the couch. He was still there and apparently asleep. Maybe he was use to the cat making noises while he slept. Maybe… I continued to look at him for what felt like an eternity. He wasn't moving, so I finally let down my guard to turn and glare at the stupid cat who'd almost cost me my freedom. Freakin' thing had the audacity to innocently stare back at me. I had to bite my lip to keep from saying, 'Watch it kitty, or I'll bite your ear off.'

Silently, I turned back to the knob. Just as her fingers grazed the cold brash she was startled by a deep voice. "Going out?"

I dropped the bag to the floor as I spun around to see My father sitting up on the couch, staring at her. "Umm, yeah. I was going out for a…"

"A walk?"

Dumbly, I nodded.

"Let me join you." He didn't sound threatening or angry just casual, as if it hadn't been obvious that I was sneaking out.

I didn't move and Samuel walked past her to open up the door and walk out. "You coming?" He asked when I still hadn't budged. Slowly, I nodded and stepped out onto the porch to join him. As we started walking away from the house, I felt my heart race. _Stupid! He's a __**werewolf**__. Of course I was going to get caught! And now, this is even worse than before. Werewolves have tempers and they're territorial. He's probably dragging me out here so he can beat me into submission before dragging me back. Holy crap, why couldn't I just jump out the freakin' window?!_

"What's wrong kid?" Samuel asked, a bit of concern showing through his voice.

"Nothing." I answered automatically.

"Listen, if you aren't comfortable here I'm sure I could work something out with your mom." He offered. I turned my head to look him in the eye as we walked. _He's offering to send me back? This has to be a trick. But he sounds so sad…_

I looked away before answering, "No. That's not necessary."

"Do you mind if I ask why you wanted to come live with me all of the sudden?"

I didn't answer. Lying would only get me into further trouble and the truth was... _This is getting ridiculous! He's still pretending and treating me like a normal person. It's really starting to piss me off. I'm NOT an ignorant._ "Stop that please. I know what you are so you do not have to put on a façade of humanity for my sake."

"How do you know?" He sounded skeptical, like he wasn't so sure that I knew what I was talking about.

"You're a werewolf." I said, sounding sure of herself. I held his gaze with my own as I continued. "The son of the morrok and, if you'll allow me to say so, older than dirt." _If I'm going to hell might as well go the whole way._

To my great surprise, the look in his eyes wasn't anger or rage. In fact, it was amusement! And then he laughed. He was laughing at me! My fist clenched at my sides as I glared at him.

"Older than dirt? No, no, that would be my father." Samuel laughed. "And the question was how did you know. That's two questions you've evaded."

I broke their eye contact and looked down at my feet. _When did we stop walking?_ There was a small breeze and the cold air brushing against my skin made me shiver.

When it became apparent that I wasn't going to answer, Samuel sighed. "Okay, okay. If you won't tell me why you're here could you at least explain to me why you were trying to sneak off in the middle of the night?"

My brow furrowed as I realized that he wasn't going to be like they said. He wasn't going to force me into submission and keep me trapped here. My eyes found his again and I questioned, "You're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry? I'm concerned, but not angry."

My head cocked to the side like a confused puppy. "I was told that werewolves were very territorial. I was under the impression that you wouldn't let me go once you had me."

_Now he's angry._ I thought as I saw his face contort. "I'm not keeping you prisoner. Whoever told you that is either a liar or very misinformed."

"Sorry."

"I'm not angry with you." His shoulders visibly relaxed and I found herself relaxing with him.

"You're not what I expected." I finally said. A small smile threatened to appear on my face and my lips twitched. "I'm glad."

"So am I." Sam agreed. "But I would like to know where you got all of this information from."

"Classified." I said, blank faced, with a shrug.

Sam's eyebrows raised and he turned back towards the trailer. "What are you? A spy?"

I shrugged again and looked away. If I hadn't been so practiced in paranoia I might have missed the skeptical look Sam gave me. He was obviously going to be careful about what he told me, and that was fine with me. The less I knew, the better things were for everyone.

A/N: Gah! Halfway through I started writing in third person and had to go back through and correct it all TT_TT I think I'll just do third person from now on since I keep reverting back to it anyway. I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!Oh and I wasn't going to post this chapter until tomorrow but thanks to my persistent brother it's out early. And a special thank you to Maya and coolchick for your reviews! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mercy Thompson Series

Chapter 5

The next day, Amy pretended nothing had happened. She continued to be polite but short, she still looked the werewolf and his roommate in the eyes when talking to either of them, but her shoulder's held the slightest bit less tension than they had before. Sam followed her lead and didn't bring up their midnight walk. Her odd behavior and the amount of information, though slightly warped, disturbed him but he wasn't about to tell her that. He didn't know if he should tell Mercy either. She was already suspicious of his daughter, this would only feed her suspicions.

He'd called Charles last night to see if he could do a background search on Amy. Apparently, there wasn't much to be found. She was homeschooled her whole life and had never gotten in trouble with the law. After Charles dug a bit deeper they found that Amy had moved quite a few times from one relative to another without any explanation as to why. Whatever the reason was for her un-teenager like behavior, Samuel was sure the moving had something to do with it. But when she revealed how much she knew about him, he was beginning to doubt the behavior was a result of simply moving around too much. She was human, he was sure of that, and to be able to know so much she'd have to know someone. Someone less than human.

Amy was cleaning her dishes at the sink, and Samuel was wracking his brain for anything to say to her. Maybe he could focus on the move. Hopefully, it wouldn't bother her. "So Amy, what kind of school did you go to before?"

"Homeschooled." Amy answered as she dried the dish.

"Well, is that what you prefer?"

She shrugged. He was getting kinda tired of the shrugging...

"The girl across the street goes to a private school. It's a nice place. Would you like to go there?"

She smelled mildly irritated now, but she didn't look it. _I wonder what the difference between last night and now is. She wasn't hiding her emotions so well then…_ The shrug made him roll his eyes. "The shrugging thing is getting annoying. Could you just answer me? I just want to put you in a school where you'll be happy."

_Ha! Emotionless mask gone._ She had one eyebrow quirked in a way that resembled his own. "School isn't fun. But… the private school sounds good."

Samuel smiled and got up to grab some water. As he passed her he ruffled her hair, "Thank you."

She was blushing a bit when she nodded and scampered out of the kitchen, making Sam laugh. "Speaking of the girl next door…" Sam whispered as her went to answer the door.

"Hi Samuel! Mercy said you had a daughter about my age and I wanted to see if she wanted to hang out." Jessie said, face beaming. She was dresses to kill with her purple shoulder length hair, a neon pink t shirt that proudly proclaimed that men could wear pink but girls looked prettier in it, a jean skirt, and some kind of small heeled shoe.

"Come on in Jessie," Samuel invited. "Amy's right there." He pointed to the couch where Amy sat and watched the girl instantly stand.

"Hello." She greeted.

"Hey! So, since your new and all I was wondering if you'd want to go shopping with me. Have a little girl time." Jessie explained quickly. "It'll be a lot of fun! Just me and you."

Sam was too busy giving Jessie 'the look' to notice if Amy was interested or not. "Is your dad ok with that? Last I checked, you weren't allowed out of the house without an escort anymore."

Jessie rolled her eyes and pointed at Amy, "But I _do_ have an escort."

"She's human."

"So? It's not like we're going to be investigating the dark street corners of Seattle. It's the _mall._ Besides, everyone is too scared of Mercy to try anything with me." Jessie gave a triumphant smile at the end of her speech but Samuel's look stayed in place.

"And what about Amy? What if someone decides to target her instead?"

"Excuse me."

Both Jessie and Sam turned to stare at the girl who had interrupted their discussion. "I don't need to go shopping so this conversation seems to be a bit pointless."

Jessie snorted and threw her hands in the air. "It's not about _needing _to shop. It's about _wanting _to shop. You know, for fun!"By the look Amy was giving her it was apparent that Amy had never thought shopping was a recreational activity. "Oh come on! Don't tell me you've never gone shopping just to have fun."

"I haven't."

Jessie's mouth hung open and Samuel was sure if her eyes got any bigger they'd pop out of the sockets. "Samuel, I _have_ to take her shopping."

"No." Samuel said, "Wait until Warren or Honey can take you. It's too big of a risk."

_Are they deaf?!_ Amy fumed silently, watching the two argue with a straight face. _Even __**if**__ I wanted to go, I would insist on going alone. _

After another minute it seemed that Samuel had stumped Jessie and won the argument.

"That was a low blow Samuel. Calling Mercy on me…" Jessie handed the phone back to Samuel as she pouted. "But she did say we could make cookies. Come on Amy! I'll teach ya Mercy's recipe."

Amy didn't know how to respond when the girl grabbed her arm and yanked her into the kitchen. _Looks like I don't have a choice. It could be worse. At least cookies taste good._ Jessie continued to keep up a lively conversation despite Amy's lack of contribution during their cookie making, a feat which absolutely amazed Amy. The longer the girl talked, the more comfortable Amy felt around her.

"You should meet him, he's awesome. Maybe we could all get together for a movie or something sometime! What kind of movies do you like?"

Amy shrugged and she dropped some dough onto a cookie sheet. "I don't know. Haven't seen any really."

"Where have you been girl?! Mars? You need some culture in you."

Amy giggled and shook her head, "No thank you. I have enough culture to last me a lifetime."

"You're odd," Jessie accused, pointing a dough covered spoon at her.

"So says the girl with purple hair."

Jessie laughed at her, "I like you."

Amy gave her a small smile and replied, "I like you too."

"Friends?" Jessie asked, sticking her hand out.

Amy looked at it unsurely. The girl was naïve. She shouldn't be so willing to let her guard down and Amy shouldn't feel so compelled to bring this girl into her world. She should be pushing her as far away as she could manage but… She was lonely. Had been for a long time. Just one friend couldn't hurt. Especially if that friend was fiercely protected by a pack of werewolves. Gingerly, she took the girl's hand in hers and shook. "Friends," she agreed.

A/N: Sorry for taking so long! . I've started on chapter 6 but it might take a while. (FOr those o you how actually read the reviews my brother lies! Chapter 6 is planned. Not done!) But anyways, I hoped you liked it despite the lateness of it. And special thanks to Maya, Single Broken Frame, and Princess Lear for your reviews! :D And I'm not sure about pairings yet, Princess ^^ I'm debating a few possibilities in my head right now. And as always, thanks to my bro.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mercy Thompson series

Chapter 6

"Are you sure you have everything?" Samuel asked for the tenth time since they left the door. Amy resisted the unyielding urge to roll her eyes and nodded. "I'll be back at 3:25 to pick you up. If anything happens you know how to get in touch with me, right?" Again, Amy nodded. "And don't hesitate to call. I won't be too busy or any other nonsense like that."

"It's school." Amy ground out between her teeth as she glared at him, who was still inside the car, from the sidewalk. "The chances of me surviving are slightly higher than you seem to think. I will be fine."

Samuel fixed her with a stern look. "I'm serious, Amy. There's been a lot of trouble with the anti-werewolf groups lately and they could decide you're a target."

Biting the inside of her lip, Amy mentally ticked off all the reasons that she shouldn't give her father some angry retort. _One, he doesn't know I can take care of myself. Two, he's being nice. Three, I don't want to cause a scene. Four… There should be a four… GAH!_

Samuel sighed as he smelled the anger coming off of her. Apparently, he'd said something offensive. "Just promise me you'll call." He pleaded.

"I will," She said with a nod.

Samuel smiled and waved. "Alright then, have fun." He didn't miss the way she rolled her eyes as she started walking to the school and the little act of immaturity made him smile. He didn't start the car until she made it through the doors of the school.

_Dear God I hope he's not like this every day._ Amy thought as she walked through the halls trying to locate the main office. The halls were too crowded for Amy to be comfortable. She never liked it when she was surrounded by people. Crowds were always a good cover for an attack.

She found Jessie before she found the office. Despite the heavy crowd, Jessie stuck out like a neon sign. Apparently, Jessie noticed her too.

"AMY!" Jessie ran to meet her and enveloped her in a hug. Amy could only stand there uncomfortably and awkwardly pat the over-excited girl's back.

"Hello Jessie."

"I'm so glad you decided to come to school here." Jessie exclaimed brightly. "Where is your first class?"

"I don't know yet. I have to retrieve my class schedule from the office."

"The office? Oh that's just over there." Jessie pointed behind her. "Here, I'll show you there."

"Thank you." Amy accepted. She would have preferred to go alone but Jessie was her friend now. And besides, the halls were so crowded and all the doors looked so much alike that she was sure she'd never find the office on her own. _Maybe Sam was right to have worried after all._

The lady at the front desk took one look at the two girl's and scowled. _I wonder what her problem is. Surely, she can't hate teenagers. What kind of school would hire a lady who hates kids? But then why does she have a problem with us?_ Amy discretely gave herself and Jessie a look over and decided that despite Jessie's hair everything else was presentable. _Maybe she doesn't like the color purple._

The woman wasted no time in giving Amy here class schedule and shooing the girls out of the office. Amy promptly handed the piece of paper to Jessie who led her to the first class on the list. "This is your Science class. I'm three doors down right over there." Jessie pointed. "After first period I'll show you where your homeroom is and then we have second together for math. I think we have PE together too." Jessie handed back the sheet of paper and gave her a hug. "Good luck." She whispered.

Amy nodded in appreciation making sure to keep her face neutral and hide her nervousness. She had to admit that all of her new friend's affection and guidance was helping with the nerves. She would have never thought that a bunch of humans could make her this scared, but here she was all but shaking in fear.

_Here goes nothing._ She entered the class and was happy to see that nobody seemed to notice her. There was an empty seat by the wall near the back. She sat down and took out her binder and pencil, all the while being conscious of the eyes that stared at her from beside her. Apparently her invisibility had worn off.

"Hey there." The male beside her greeted. "I'm Alex. And you are?"

Amy looked into the boy's dark blue eyes that glittered with charm and wit. His light brown hair was gelled into perfect little spikes and his face held a certain boyishness to it. "Amy." She answered.

"Amy." He repeated with a smile, ignoring her lack of reaction to his advances. "You new here?"

_Well let's see. Have you seen me here or maybe your head is to far up your butt to notice the people who are around you everyday._ "Yes."

"I thought as much. I would have remembered your pretty face." Alex said with a wink.

"Yeah and she'd know better than to hang with the wolf girl." The girl from behind her sneered. Amy turned her back to the wall so she could see them both. The girl had black hair that hung down to her shoulders in curls. Heavy makeup adorned her eyes and lips and her shirt was definitely revealing more skin than any girl her age should.

However, it wasn't her looks that made Amy's eyebrow raise ever so slightly. "Excuse me?"

Alex chuckled softly and shook his head. "You were hanging out with that freak?"

"She sure was. I saw the two of them walking towards the office."

"Stop talking about her like she's not here Vivian." Alex scolded the girl.

Vivian scowled at him before turning to Amy with a serious expression. "That girl is nothing but trouble. Her dad's a werewolf and one of the big ones too. You'd be better off staying away from her."

"She was showing me to the office." Amy explained. "I don't see how that's so troublesome."

"Well if you need help finding your way-" Alex said with a large smile.

"Me and my girls will show you around so you don't have to be harassed by this clown all day." Vivian huffed.

"Clown? You didn't think I was a clown when you were dating me."

"Yeah, up until I caught you with Janet!"

"Oh come on you aren't still mad about that!"

"Oh yes I am, and I-!"

Amy abruptly cut of the argument when she stated, "I think I'll take my chances with Jessie thank you." And turned around in her chair leaving the two teenagers to gawk at her. _This is going to be a long day._

A/N: Sorry I took so long . But here it is! And as always thank you so much for the reviews! ANd I hoped you enjoyed this last chapter. I already have 7 planned and I'm gona start writing it now actually. Maybe I'll get it done tonight :D I'll reply to reviews for 5 and 6 in chapter 7 okay? And I have a blooper to share with you! I almost didn't catch this one . I'm not that great at spelling and so I always use spell check but sometimes even spell check can fail in life . Here's the little blooper I ,luckily, caught before posting:

Vivian scowled at him before turning to Amy with a serious expression. "That girl is nothing but trouble. Her dad's a werewolf and one of the **bi** ones too. You'd be better off staying away from her."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mercy Thompson series

Chapter 7

Jessie seemed excited to see her when Amy filed out of the classroom and into the hallway. Her homeroom, as it turned out, was across the hall from Jessie's. The whole way to their rooms, Jessie talked and talked. Amy only heard maybe half of what she said. She was more interested in the number of people who must hate the color purple. Or wolves.

Amy had been wondering why Jessie had been so excited to see her and why she didn't have a flock of people surrounding her. Normally kids as charismatic as Jessie would be well loved and liked among her classmates. But Jessie wasn't just a teenager and classmate, she was the Alpha's daughter.

When they spilt to go to their designated classrooms, Amy found herself wishing she could go with Jessie. It was strange to feel so protective or this girl. She hadn't even known her for that long! But above all else it was dangerous.

Homeroom was uneventful, for which Amy was terribly grateful. However, second period was disheartening to say the least. The students weren't the only ones who harbored ill feelings toward Jessie. The teacher was completely ignoring her existence.

"Does this happen in every class?" Amy whispered to her.

"No." Jessie said, equally quiet. "Some are better."

"And others?" Amy questioned. Jessie responded with a shrug and Amy frowned. She reached over and grabbed Jessie's hand, giving her friend a comforting squeeze for reassurance.

"Fourth is in a few minutes." Jessie said to change the subject. "You have literature. It's down the hall from here. After that is lunch. Wanna eat together?"

Amy gave her a small smile, the first smile of the day, and nodded. "I'd love to but first I have to turn in some papers to the office. I'll go myself though. Why don't you find us a place to eat at?"

Jessie's answering smile must have been five times the size of her own. "I normally eat out front by the stairs."

"That sounds great. I'll meet you there."

One period later and it was lunch time. Amy very quickly made her way to the bathrooms she'd passed earlier. The bathrooms were already taken apparently and it looked like the girls would be there for quite awhile if the pack of cigarettes were any indication. Sighing, she left the bathroom in search for another hiding spot. The hallways were thinning out and Amy saw a janitor closet. She quietly slipped into the closet and turned on the light.

She laid her backpack on the ground and leaned against the wall as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She carefully dialed the numbers and pressed the call button. One ring, two rings, three…

"Hello?" The deep voice answered.

"Kenny?" She asked with a smile on her lips.

"Amy! Where the hell are you?!"

"I'm still here in Washington." She answered.

"But you're not with him right? Do you need me to come there and pick you up?" He was worried, she could tell, but his worry wasn't necessary.

"No Kenny. You stay right where you are. We don't need Grandmother Edna getting upset. Besides, I kind of like it here."

"Like it? What the hell is wrong with you?! You're surrounded by _werewolves_ not to mention all the vampires crawling around that area! You need to get out of there Amy!"

"Kenny, I'm fine. I swear it. Sam's not all that bad."

"Sam? Oh no, you're getting attached!" His voice whined over the receiver and she had to giggle at him.

"You'd like him Kenny. And I think I'm safe here."

"You are **not** safe there. You aren't safe anywhere Amy, remember that. Wherever you go, they'll hunt you and when they find you-"

"I know, I know. But they haven't figure out how to yet and they won't! Maybe, after this fails they'll give up." She couldn't keep the desperation from reaching her voice as she said the last sentence.

"Amy…" The boy sighed. "Look, just get out of there and soon. When you do call me and I'll help you get away ok?"

"I'm not leaving Kenny." She insisted. "I like it here. I'm staying."

"Damn it Amy!" Kenny growled.

"Listen Kenny, I got to go. I'll talk to you later, bye." Amy said quickly hanging up the phone almost as fast as the last word left her mouth. She sat there in the silence for a few moments. _I knew he'd be angry but I thought maybe he'd change his mind. That maybe he'd be happy that I was happy._ She had to get to Jessie. Who knew what those other kids might do to her if she wasn't out there to protect th girl soon.

Amy snuck out of the closet and quickly made her way to the front door. She smiled when she saw Jessie sitting on the front steps alone and unharmed. "How was the office?" She asked as she munched on her sandwich.

"Dull." Amy answered as she sat beside her. "How was lunch?"

"Tediously monotonous." She answered cheekily.

_Oh yeah._ Amy thought. _I'm definitely staying. _

A/N: Yay! Two chapters in one night! And to answer my only reviewer for chapter five, I'm a hurrying, I'm a hurrying! :P But I hope you like it and I'll have more as soon as I can.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mercy Thompson series or any of the characters. However I wish I did own Silver Bourne, I heard it's supposed to be really good!

Chapter 8

It seemed like forever, but the weekend finally came. It had been two weeks and already Amy had learned to hate school with the same passion of any self respecting teenager. School was a lot harder than Amy had ever considered it might be. Of course, when she had dreamed about mundane classes and carefree classmates she hadn't taken into consideration that those classmates would hate her by association or that the classes would include hours of listening to lectures about material she had already taught herself.

The only classes in which she found relief were the ones she had with Jessie. The girl was a genius, literally, so they both spent their first class together passing notes. Their PE class was spent chatting away as they did whatever activity was required of them that day. Needless to say, it didn't take long for the girls to become inseparable. Even after school they usually ended up going home together. If Sam was at work, Amy went with Jessie and if Adam was at work vise versa.

Both of their fathers were busy today so the girls were going to Mercy's garage. Amy was nervous but she kept her face neutral and politely listened to Jessie's chatter about how happy she was that she'd finally meet Gabriel. Having Mercy around was strange. She wasn't use to the brash behavior of the woman or her kindness. Having Jessie around helped, but Amy was still unable to fully relax.

They entered the shop and Jessie abandoned her, practically tackling the kid behind the desk. "Hi Grabriel!"

"Hey Jessie." Gabriel replied with a laugh.

Jessie released him and turned to Amy. "This is my friend Amy I told you about. Amy, this is Gabriel."

Amy nodded politely and the two teenagers almost immediately fell into a conversation about something or another. Amy was having a hard time understanding what they were talking about but she sat there and smiled. Mercy came in not too long afterwards and smiled at the group.

"Hey guys. How was school?" Both girls shrugged which caused Mercy to laugh. "I think you're wearing off on Jessie, Amy." She said. Amy smiled at her, just a little bit. She knew Mercy wasn't bad but she just couldn't get over the feeling that she was hiding something. Her instincts were good, they saved her more than once, but maybe just this once they were wrong. She really hoped so. She liked Mercy.

"I'm locking up soon. I'll take you girls home once I finish with this bucket of bolts over there." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the garage and Amy peeked through the open door to see some sort of car. She wasn't sure what kind it was but it looked old.

"Can I help?" She asked. Mercy cocked her head to the side with a surprised look. "Well more like just hand you tools and ask questions." Amy amended.

Mercy smiled and nodded. "Come on kid."

Amy hurried off the chair she was sitting in and followed Mercy into the garage. Mercy quickly explained what the problem was, apparently something with the wiring. Amy took a look at the wires but was at a loss to describe what could be wrong. It looked good to her…

Whatever the problem was, Mercy had it fixed before the end of the hour. Amy had watched absently as Mercy rewired. _Maybe it would be okay to ask. She doesn't seem like someone who'd fly off the handle because of a silly question…_ An image of an angry woman flashed through her head and she closed her eyes to dispel the unwanted memory. Mercy, who was wiping her hands off, noticed the small action.

"Is something wrong?" She asked with a hint of worry.

Amy gave her a small smile and shook her head. "I'm fine." She didn't feel fine but there was nothing Mercy could do about that unless she had a way to erase memories. Besides, Mercy wasn't a werewolf. She couldn't smell lies. _Then why is she looking at me that way?_

Although Mercy didn't look like she believed her she dropped the subject and opted for, in Amy's opinion, a much better subject. "How do you like living here so far?"

"It's wonderful." Mercy was happy to see the smile growing on Amy's face. She'd noticed that she was steadily becoming more and more open with her emotions around them.

"And what's so wonderful about it?"

Amy shrugged as she watched Mercy putting the tools back into their proper places. "Everything I suppose."

"Anything you don't like?" Mercy pressed. Even though the kid had been more forth coming in her answers Samuel and her were still clueless as to what Amy was really like. They had no idea what her hobbies were, what kind of music she liked, if she'd had any friends before Jessie and most importantly what her life use to be like. Amy shook her head but then seemed to change her mind.

"Actually…" Mercy waited for the answer to come, hoping to learn more about her friend's daughter. "School wasn't as great as I thought it would be. It's still better than home schooling."

_Great. That's the same thing every kid says._ Mercy thought. She gave a short laugh and agreed. "Yeah, it can really suck sometimes."

Later that evening the three of them were sitting around the table eating dinner. Both Mercy and Samuel could smell the happiness exuding from the teenage girl they were sitting with. It had started happening not too long ago. Anytime Samuel was able to spend time with her she'd 'light up' in a sense. Her facial expressions would become more expressive and her speech would become more enthusiastic and talkative. It made both of them happy to see her adjusting so well.

When dinner was over, Amy insisted on helping Mercy with the dishes. Mercy was surprised by her actions. Amy had seemed to be throwing herself on the woman ever since she'd gotten back from school. At first she thought it was because Gabriel and Jessie were boring her but even when they got home Amy had continued to ask to spend time with her doing whatever Mercy happened to be doing at the moment. Ever since Amy had been there with them it had become her custom to avoid anytime with Mercy whenever possible. This new development only added to the happiness.

Once the last dish was in its place Amy turned to Samuel. "Jessie asked me to see a movie with her tomorrow night. W-would that be okay?" Neither adult in the room needed the stutter to tell them how nervous she was while asking the question. However, as soon as Samuel gave her that smile of his the nervousness was completely washed away.

"As long as you get your homework done first I don't mind. I'll give you some money before you go." That's when it happened. She ran over and hugged him. Samuel didn't even have time to recover and return the hug before Amy was dashing out of the room.

Mercy couldn't help it. She had to laugh at the stupid smile on Samuel's face.

The day had been wonderful! In fact the whole past week had been wonderful! Amy had never felt this happy or this _normal_ in her life. She had no idea it could be this fun to just talk without worrying about what the other person would hear.

She was currently exiting the theater with Jessie. Through some miracle the girls had managed to get Adam and Samuel to agree to let them go to the movie alone. They'd played the 'poor little girl' card as Jessie called it. Amy called it exploiting but she didn't mind doing it. All they'd had to do was emphasize that they didn't get much girl time and that they were capable of taking care of themselves.

The streets were just starting to get dark now. Jessie called her father to come and pick them up. He said he'd be there in a few minutes. As they waited they talked about the movie and Jessie commented on how the love triangle in the movie reminded her of Mercy and their fathers. Of course Amy asked her to explain in as much detail as possible. The girls were so lost in their fun that they didn't see her until it was too late.

"Look who's here. It's the little wolf girls."

Vivian's voice was as annoyingly high pitched as ever. Since the first day she'd grown to hate Amy more and more. Part of it was Amy's refusal to include herself in Vivian's pack of malicious girls who now surrounded her. The other half of the problem was that Alex, Vivian's ex, continued to hit on Amy. Amy didn't understand how any of this was her fault, she thought it was all idiotic. "Hello Vivian."

"What are you doing here? Looking for more people to add to your pack?"

"Maybe you should stop talking Vivian." Amy gave Jessie's arm a squeeze. She'd asked Jessie to let her do all the talking when it came to bullies. Jessie was being watched much more closely than she was after all.

Vivian was about to come up with another come back when Jessie grabbed Amy's arm and dragged her towards the car that had just pulled up. "Hi Dad!" She greeted brightly as she slipped into the back seat with Amy. Jessie then proceeded to tell her father about the movie in great detail. Amy remained silent during the entire ride. She knew for a fact that Vivian had had plans to be on the other side of town tonight.

A/N: I'm so sorry! I totally forgot to answer all the reviewers! I will do so now!

Maya: Thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad that you like it and I'll try and finally finish this story this summer. Hopefully it will be to your liking as well ^^

coolchick: Good! It means my plot twist is effective! Sorry it's taken me this long to upload more chapters but I'll try to speed up a little bit.

And to all of you who added me to your watch lists and your favorites, thank you! I promise I'll start getting more chapters out once summer rolls around.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own not the Mercy Thompson series. If I did, it'd take a lot longer for a new book to come out.

Chapter 9

She was still mulling over Viven's planned ambush when she got home that night. It didn't scare her, not really. It would take a lot more than a couple of girls randomly showing up at the theater to scare her, much much more. However, it did put her on edge. While she might be more or less immune to Viven Jessie wasn't.

"Are you okay Amy?" Samuel asked as she walked through the door. She nodded to him, taking off her jacket in the process.

When she looked up at him she could tell he didn't believe her. He didn't believe her half the time, but that was because half the time she was lying. So she ignored it and went to 'her' room. The room Samuel was having added was almost done. Pretty soon she'd be moving into it and he could have this room back.

She put her purse away and pressed the ignore button when Kenny tried to call her again. This must have been the thirtieth time this week he'd called to tell her to try and run. Running was the last thing she had on her mind. It was too risky and, like it or not, she had become attached to the people around her. Now if only Kenny could understand that…

Sighing, she put the phone back in her pocket and turned to exit her room. She nearly had a heart attack when there was someone in her doorway. Immediately her face lost all emotion and she stared into their eyes, but it was just Samuel.

Her mask fell and a small smile replaced it. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I didn't mean to scare you." Samuel replied, still in her doorway. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Do I look bad?" Amy countered, refusing to outright lie.

He fixed her with a look, one she was learning to recognize. It was the displeased face he used every time she evaded a question or shrugged in response. _Honestly! If it was something I could tell you I would._ It annoyed her to no end that he felt he had the right to involve himself in her affairs. Instead of sharing that information, she chose a more acceptable, and polite, route. "I'm just thinking."

"About?"

And there he went again! She swore that if he insisted on going much further she'd kick him out and slam the door. "About a friend."

He was leaning against the doorway now, one eyebrow raised in interest. "And what about this friend is so troubling?"

Werewolves weren't easy to kick, and slamming doors on one didn't usually go over well, or so she had heard. _Maybe I can ask him to stop?_ It'd be terribly rude to do so, and go against everything she'd been taught. Polite kept you from being shredded to pieces. False concern for societal acceptance made you seem conventional and dependable, and that made you unpredictable. Strangely enough, her little please's and thank-you's tended to save her a lot of grief. Samuel was proving to be made of a different cloth than the kind she was use to though, so maybe it would be okay to actually express herself…

"I'd rather not talk about it, if that would be okay." There. It sounded polite still despite her refusal.

Samuel was quiet for a while. To Amy it seemed like a very long time as she stared at his unblinking eyes. Then, in a calm and undemanding voice he said, "I was just curious why you seemed to be ignoring your phone calls."

"Because some people don't know when to stop pushing," She said, deliberately giving the statement a double meaning. Her eyes stayed on his out of habit as she waited for his response. Finally, Samuel broke the silence.

"Is it your mother?"

For a moment she was shocked that he'd think that, but then she recalled that most mothers would want to call their daughters. "No." She replied, grimly happy that he couldn't perceive it as a lie.

The werewolf in her doorway didn't seem to be happy despite the truth of her words but he relented and came into the room. He planted a kiss on her forehead, leaning down a great deal in order to do so, and bid her good night before leaving. _Well, that was odd._

Samuel retreated from his daughter's room, a worried haze filling his mind. She was happier, which he was most grateful for, but she was also acting oddly without reason. She did a lot of things without reason. Tonight he'd decided to pry instead of sit back and watch her fall into what may be a dangerous situation. Ignoring phone calls didn't exactly mean she was in trouble but it was unsettling that he didn't even know who she was ignoring let alone why. Currently, he was entertaining the idea of giving Charels another call and asking him to try and pry even further into her history, but he was well aware that it would be a direct invasion of her privacy so he held back from doing so.

She'd been only giving him half the truth when she described the elusive caller as a friend, his nose told him that. And the calls weren't the only thing she was worried about. The stench of her concern had been emitting from her since she came home. To put it bluntly, he was missing a lot of pieces that he needed to put the whole picture together.

_She'll eventually tell me._ He decided as he got ready for work. _She can't avoid the topic forever._

As soon as she heard his car leaving she breathed a sigh of relief. Mercy would be coming home in a few minutes but until then she could be relaxed. Even though she loved being around them, the burden of her secrets were weighing down on her more than they ever had before. Amy was finding it harder and harder to lie to someone she actually respected and liked.

Just as she was about to start succumbing to the tranquility the empty house offered, her phone rang again. This time she answered it, flipping it open and letting out a very annoyed, "What?!"

"If you don't haul ass and get out of there I'll call Elliot and let him chew your stubborn little butt out!"

"Nice to hear from you Kenny. Yes, I've been fine. How about you? That's nice."

"I'm not kidding Amy," The boy growled irritably.

"You hear that Kenny? That was a _normal_ conversation between cousins. Wasn't it _nice_?"

There was a pause and Amy wondered if Kenny was really going through with his threat. She was just about to hang up when she heard him sigh. "How have you been?"

A genuine smile bloomed on her face and she replied, "Good. Actually really well. Started school, made a friend, I'm hit on almost daily. Life's pretty good. What about you?"

"I'm worried." Was the immediate reply. "It's not good for you Amy and you know that. Eventually you'll have to leave them whether by choice or not. You'll be an emotional wreck."

In barely a whisper she said, "I know."

"Well then why the hell are you staying?!"

"Because…" She started but trailed off in thought. _Because I'd like to have a real life at least once before it ended._ "Because I can't help it."

"AMY!"

"I'm not leaving Kenny and that's final." She said stubbornly.

"Not even for them? Look, you know you don't have a choice in any of this. The minute they get their hands on you they're going to probe you and then they're going to try to drag _it_ out of you. If you stay there long enough we know they'll at least get the first half of what they want. Do you really want them to have that kind of information?"

"I'm being careful about what I hear." She insisted meekly.

"But you still hear."

"I need to go." She said, ending the conversation and putting the phone in her pocket just as Mercy entered the trailer.

"Hello Mercy." She greeted, coming out into the living room.

"Hey Amy. Did your dad leave anything for dinner?"

"Yeah. It's in the fridge."

Samuel didn't come back in until she was just about to leave for work. Before he'd even set foot into the trailer she was standing in his way. "You need to talk to her."

"About?" The tired man asked, one eyebrow raised in inquiry.

"About why she's here." He wasn't going to like this, she knew, but she had to tell him anyway. So she told him everything she'd heard on the phone call, starting with a young man's concern that someone was going to drag information out of Amy. The entire conversation had been vague, but she'd come to the conclusion that Amy was in some kind of trouble and it was the reason she was here.

When she was done, all he had to say to her was, "Alright."

"You aren't going to do anything about it?" It astounded her that after wanting a child for so long he could just give up like this. In fact, it was so surprising that she didn't believe it. There had to be another explanation.

"She'll tell me if she needs to." He sounded resolute and she stepped to the side to allow him into her home. The new information didn't even seem to faze him.

"You knew."

"Not entirely. I knew she was up to something, but I don't know what."

It was too late in the morning to argue; She needed to get to church, and Amy had been up for quite a while now reading something or another. Mercy gave Samuel's shoulder a squeeze and wished him goodbye before leaving him for work.

A/N: Amy's secret is out! Well, sort of… I showed some of this chapter to my friend and she went ballistic on Kenney. Apparently, she thinks he's an evil b-word. However, it gave me the idea of the century! Mwhahahaha… I'll have ten up as soon as I can and I hope you enjoyed it!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Fortunately for all parties involved, I do not own Mercy Thompson series.

Chapter 10

Needless to say, Amy was pissed off. The mask of smooth coolness and emotional detachment took over as she tried to push the anger back. It wasn't Kenny's fault that she couldn't be normal. It wasn't even Elliot's fault.

Her thoughts were so focused on trying to suppress the emotions that she didn't notice her hands digging into her backpack until they brushed over her treasures. Too emotional to restrain herself, she dumped her bag onto the bed.

Text books issued by the private school she and Jessie attended where the first things to flop onto the bed. English, math, history… Then the real gems fell to the bed: a small tin box and three smaller paperback books.

The first book was a copy of Dante's Divine Comedy written in its original Italian. Lovingly she caressed the worn cover and fraying pages. It was a fairly simple cover, the colors fading and completely rubbed off in some places. It had been her first book and the tales of fire and redemption had often been the stories that filled the hours of terrified uncertainty.

It was to her shame and guilty pleasure that her fingers traced over the gold lettering of the second book within her possession. Although she knew beforehand that this book strictly forbade stealing, she couldn't help herself. She'd been ten the first time she saw the Latin beauty and her itchy fingers couldn't contain themselves so she'd traded her boring English version for the much more fascinating Latin Bible. The irony was not lost one her, nor was the shame of her thievery. The joy the little text had brought her seemed worth it though, a secret sin which she would never reveal.

The last worn book, the one which she was now grasping in her hands, was a Greek translation of Homer's works. The book was the largest of the three and included both the Illiad and the Odessy. She flipped to the first page and read over the first line of the poem.

_Rage!_

She felt like she understood Achillies at times like these. Her life was her Brisies and Agomemnon was taking it from her. Literary scholars wouldn't agree with her allusion of course, but it helped sometimes.

Quickly, she replaced her treasures in the bottom of her bag, all except the Greek classics which she was about to enjoy in. Then her text books safely hid the two texts and her little box from prying eyes. A pin prick of guilt picked at her heart, but she shoved it away. Elliot had taught her better than to ignore the Sabbath day and she always made sure to read her Bible first thing Sunday mornings. _God will forgive me one Sunday_, she decided as she continued to read the epic poem.

She heard the door to the trailer slam shut and shortly after the sound of Mercy's car pulling away. Amy wondered if Sam ever went to church on Sundays or not. She'd always wanted to go but it'd always been too dangerous for her. Even Elliot walked a thinning line.

The phone on her table side buzzed, rudely awakening her from visions of massacre and bloody honor. The poor rectangular piece of technology was subjected to one of her glares as she searched the little screen on top for the name of her interrupter. The glare fell and her heart caught in her chest. Without any further delay she answered the phone.

"Elliot, I thought you'd be at church."

"I was." He answered calmly, his deep voice melting the words together. "There's a time difference Amelia."

"Oh." She sounded like a child, and she felt like one too. Elliot always did that to her. She assumed it was residual effect of him taking care of her so much when she was a child. Actually, he still took care of her, which reminded her of Kenny's threat. "I'm not leaving."

"So I've heard." That was Eillot's way. Kenny yelled when he didn't get his way and Elliot just pointed out that you were an incapable idiot without ever having to scream. He'd yell if she pressed the right buttons, but not like Kenny.

"I like it here." She continued, hoping that he would actually agreed with her this time. It was always hard to predict which side Elliot would chose, her's or Kenny's.

"So I assumed."

He wasn't outright telling her to run away so maybe he was on her side? The best thing to do now was to stay quiet until he spoke his mind.

"Amelia, there is a reason I made the plan." Uh-oh. He was annoyed, which meant he'd sided with Kenny. "It's not just for your safety. It's for theirs too. We're preventing war Amelia."

Horrible, bloody war. Just like the Iliad. She didn't like it but he was right. They both were. "I don't want to leave them Elliot."

"Amelia," His tone wasn't as gruff and she was thankful for that. "They won't want you when they find out why you're there."

"…"

"Amelia?"

She hadn't thought of that. Never had it occurred to her that they would turn their backs on her. Would they really do that? Well, why not? It would be the smart thing to do. They should get rid of her.

"Yeah. Okay."

"Good. I'll come by to pick you up tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"And Amelia?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." _Click._

Numbly, she put her book away. _They don't want me?_ She could feel her mouth setting into one of those hard, unfeeling lines. _They don't want me. _Her heart beat seemed too loud, too unfamiliar. It almost felt out of place, as if it was a beating heart inside a corpse. _They don't want me. _She curled her knees to her chest and hugged them. Her chin rested on top of them as the thought lodged itself more firmly in her mind. _They don't want me._

He heard the phone ring from her room but wasn't surprise until he heard her answer. With a wall and a door between them he couldn't hear the voice from the phone very well, only that it was a male. Her voice came across very clearly through the barriers.

At first he questioned whether he should be listening in on her conversation, but when he smelt the change in emotions he didn't care about invasions of privacy. As soon as the sound of the phone closing reached his ears he opened the door. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Either that, or she was about ready to cry. From all the pain he was smelling from her, the second choice seemed more likely.

"Amelia?"

Slowly, much slower than she ever did anything, she turned to look at him. No, she turned to look _through_ him.

"Honey, are you okay?"

"Yeah." The word was devoid of anything. It was empty, blank, unfeeling. Sam didn't like the look of this.

"So what did the mystery friend say?"

"He said hello and asked how I was." The answer was so hollowly polite that it made Samuel's heart ache. He entered the room fully, squatting at the edge of her bed so that he could look up into her face.

"Amy, you don't sound okay. What happened?" The was the tiniest hint of a growl in his tone. The protect nature of the beast inside wanted to rip something or someone apart in order to keep his child safe. Unfortunately, not all things were that simple.

_They don't want me._ There were very few times when Amy had chosen to break protocol in her life. Most of the time, it was better to act polite and not give anyone a reason t hate you. However, she'd broken the rule just a few sweet times when action was called for. Never had she done it out of selfishness.

There's a first time for everything.

The pillow slammed into Samuel's face before she even knew it was in her hand. His head hadn't even snapped back around before she was running out of the door to her room. Samuel, poor unknowing father, was left to wonder what exactly he'd said as he watched her fly out the front door. Sighing, he got to his feet, placed the pillow back on the bed, and tried to suppress the urge to run after her. She'd come back after a quick walk.

A/N: Okay two notes! One, this chapter was a lot shorter than I planned but as soon as finals are over (Next week :D) I should be able to write more and make the chapters longer. TWO! On my profile I was sharing these stories I found on fiction press that I liked. Figured I might as well put it here too: .com/~bunneh

Other than that, I hoped you enjoyed and I'l try to post again as soon as possible. Thank you so much for all your support!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

There was an emptiness in her, as if everything inside had suddenly and painfully been taken from her. The morning air had warmed up to a tolerable temperature for her quarter sleeved tee shirt, but it was still cooler than she'd have liked. She'd been spoilt by the sun for too long…

She shook her head and kept walking, trying very hard to keep her eyes on her shoes. There was too much, just too god damned much! Elliot was right, it was time to go back home. They could get rid of her if they wanted, it wasn't like she'd be of much use to them after this. Translators weren't rare enough to make her so special she wasn't disposable and if she was refusing to do their bidding she wasn't really much help to them was she?

There were others though. They'd want her so she could do _their_ bidding, only with them she'd be a prisoner. It wouldn't be much worse than going home, but it'd still be worse. Some freedom was better than none at all.

She hadn't even been gone one minute before he started his change. There was something wrong, even Mercy had said so. The change took too long with his girl walking out there all alone. It was in the middle of the day, but she was… off.

The second he was on four feet instead of two he was running for the door with only one stumble into the coffee table because he hadn't waited for the effects to wear off.

Amelia had stuck close to the road, walking along side it. Following her scent was easy and in no time she was in his sight. Her back was too him as she continued down the road. He could the smell the stress and anxiety rolling off her like a never ending tide. She was staring at something in her hand and until she lifted it to her ear he hadn't realized it was a cell phone.

Samuel didn't mean to eavesdrop on her conversation. He was planning on letting her know he was there as soon as he was closer. She stopped when someone, a male, answered the phone.

"So are you leaving or what?" The words stopped him in his tracks and his eyes became fixed on the girl in front of him, her back still turned.

"Yeah, I'm leaving."

Sam guessed he wasn't the only one hearing the sadness in her words because the male said, "I'm sorry Amy. I know you liked them, but it's better this way. No harm, no foul right?"

"Yeah." That was a lie if he ever smelled one. "We'll head back that way soon."

His ears were standing on top of his head as he listened, absorbing the information. "I'll make sure everything's ready. Just don't get caught."

Amelia turned faster than he'd ever seen her move. She was staring into his eyes again. The wolf inside him stirred restlessly, challenging her back. When he caught the smell of her fear, he stopped his growling.

"I have to go." She hung up the phone, dropping her eyes so she could stash the phone in her pocket which helped to settle his wolf. She didn't say anything as she walked past him or when he trotted beside her all the way to the house. She went into her room and he went to his own to change. It took him longer than he would have liked, but when he was done and dressed he found her still in her room. She was sitting on the middle of her bed, staring at a point on the wall.

"Amelia?" Her gaze shifted to him, holding his eyes as was her habit. "What's going on?"

Blank faced, she repeated the same answer she'd given him the first night she'd come. "Classified."

Not this time, he promised himself. He'd allowed her to hide too much for too long. "Who was that on the phone?"

The power in his voice wasn't as affective as it was on the wolves, but he could tell she felt the compulsion to answer. The muscles in her neck and shoulders were tight with stress. As she glared, he leaned himself against the doorframe. "It was a cousin," She finally answered. "He's worried for me."

"He sounded relieved," Samuel countered. Her eyes closed, ending the dominance contest whether she meant to or not. Her chest rose as she filled her lungs with air and fell again as she slowly exhaled. The anger lessened, but didn't leave.

"He was relieved. I'd agreed to his request."

"He wants you to leave me." Her eyes snapped open and landed on his face. No emotion leaked through on her face, but he could smell the fear and worry spike.

"You ask too many questions."

She was only a child, he reminded himself. Not a wolf challenging his authority, just one child. _His child_. "Explain." A hint of welsh accented his words and it was a struggle not to slip into a tongue that would be lost to his child's ears.

With a stubbornness that was purely her mother's she repeated, "Classified."

His patience shot, it was with a nasty sneer that he retaliated, "Do not tell me that damned word as if it isn't a no!" Only after the words had left his mouth did he realize they'd been said in welsh and if it wasn't for the hardened look in her eyes he would have relaxed with the knowledge that she had no idea of knowing what he'd said.

"It isn't just 'no'," she hissed with more venom than he thought a sixteen year old should be capable of. "It's 'no' with a _reason_!"

The shock outweighed the anger and Samuel found himself staring at his daughter as she glared at him. "And how do you know welsh?" She blinked, her anger dying in the face of the odd question. Slowly, her face fell back into her emotionless mask.

"I would answer, but I think you already know what I'll say." When he didn't answer her she continued to speak, as he knew she would. Without the anger to cloud his judgment he found the patience with which to hunt. "I tried to be civil and pleasant. I apologize for any discomforts I have caused, but it doesn't change what I need to do."

It was time to let her know what she was getting into. "I won't let you go."

"You don't have a choice."

"And neither do you, Ameilia." His tone was the epitome of the word final and yet he could see he had barely scratched the wall of stubbornness she'd built.

"I _will_ leave. There is no question to it." She was challenging him again, and his wolf paced restlessly beneath the surface as he stared into her cold ice eyes. "How and when may vary, but it will happen _soon_."

He tried futilely to ignore the roar echoing into his mind. If he continued to butt heads with her they would continue this into the wee hours of the night and still get nowhere. His hand extended, palm faced upward, and he looked at her expectantly. "Phone." She never even hesitated to place it in his hand leaving him unnerved and yet relieved there was not another fight.

A/N: I'm BACK! Years later... . I could honestly come up with a million and one excuses, but I'm not even going to try. Suffice it to say that life happened -_-.

Thank you to everyone who Favorited and added this story to their Story Alerts. You're the reason I'm actually continuing the story. I've been trying to work out where the story is headed because my original idea has been scrapped, but never fear I have a general direction I'm just waiting to see which path the plot bunnies take to get there.

Constructive criticism, unadulterated praise, and all questions are always welcome. Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Amy watched her father leave with her cell phone in his hand, knowing that his wasn't the end of it. He'd be back with more questions than before, and worse yet he was smart enough that he could have theories as to the unexplained oddities about her when others could only stab at the dark. He knew intimately of magic and the things that went bump in the night. It wouldn't be hard for him to put two and two together, and she didn't doubt that he would. Soon.

Their encounter had left her an emotional mess. The world was too complicated as it was without all of this… this _stuff_, stuff being the most technical term she could think of.

He took her phone, which meant that she needed to get to Elliot before he did something stupid like telling him where and when they were going to meet. Digging through her belongings she picked out the unadorned tin box and opened it. Inside held many trinkets of the past, things to hold her together and things to help defend herself from the monsters lurking in the shadows.

She clutched the tiny necklace and withdrew it from its home before putting the box back in its proper place. The necklace wasn't much to look at, not worth much more than a buck at a county fair, but to those who knew how to use it, it was priceless. The tiny crystal stone that hung from the metal chain was little more than a bead it was so small, and yet so powerful. A gift from an overprotective fae, the stone was most likely the last of its kind and very, very old. Later, when there were no wolves around to smell the magic she'd use the stone to contact Elliot so he'd know the situation.

From the minute Mercy walked in the door she knew there was something amiss. She felt something akin to the nagging feeling that you'd forgotten your purse at the office or that there was something out of place, only it was different. There was something off about _here_. She didn't know what until she took a whiff and smelt the worry and anger.

"Sam?"

He must have been waiting for her because he was already on his way to meet her. "Amy was trying to leave."

With him so close she could scent the fresh worry and there was still anger, though not as strong. It was the sadness that came rolling off him that had her crossing over to him and enveloping him in a hug. "She's not gone." Mercy knew because she could hear her shuffling around in her room.

"She wants to leave."

He'd probably hate her for it but she felt sorry for him. He'd wanted children so bad he'd practically seduced her at in her teens and now that he finally had a child she was trying to leave him after only a month in his care. "Why?"

With a bitter bark of a laugh he bit out the word "Classified."

"Excuse me?" She released him, taking a step back to look at his face.

"She won't say anything to me."

Well that was odd. "Maybe I should go talk to her." There was a tiny spark of hope that lit his eyes at her suggestion so she walked over to the girl's door and knocked. "You may want to go to Adam's for a bit and give us some space." Mercy suggested just as the door began to crack open. "She may need a little privacy."

Sam wasn't happy with the idea, but one look at his daughter's downturned face had him walking out the door and headed to the local alpha's. "Now that he's gone, let's do some girl talk." She plastered on her brightest customer friendly smile, trying to be as approachable as possible. Amy had never really felt comfortable around her, though she didn't know why, and frankly Mercy didn't think the girl would tell her anything she wouldn't tell Sam but she was willing to try.

From the passive look and the air of "you're kidding, right?" that Amy exuded, Mercy got the feeling that she wasn't getting anywhere. "He's worried about you," All joking and smiles gone, Mercy decided brutal honesty would be best. "He doesn't mean to be an overbearing monster, but he can't really help it. It's who he is." Amy laughed. It was a true laugh, not bitter or hurt but an honest to god laugh and Mercy couldn't have been more surprised if Elvis walked in the door.

"I've seen worse," The teenage admitted as she walked back to her bed and made herself comfortable on it, patting the seat next to her in invitation. Mercy had a sarcastic comment waiting, but it died on her tongue when she scented the honesty in the girl's words.

"I can't imagine much worse," She was treading thin ice. From the way the girl had acted from the moment she arrived it had been obvious there was some type of maltreatment in the girl's history. Most people tended to clam up if they felt pressured into talking about such things, so she'd have to be very careful.

"You've obviously never watched _Silence of the Lambs_ then."The girl smiled a tiny bit at Mercy and continued, "I don't like lotion."

Now it was Mercy's turn to laugh. "Alright, he's not _that _bad but he can get pretty territorial."

The girl on the bed shrugged, unaffected by the shift of the mares as Mercy sat down. "It's a wolf thing." The way she said it sounded as if she truly accepted that and Mercy would have been happy about it, since she'd need to accept her father the way he was, except she couldn't. Something just felt wrong.

"Yeah, guess it is." Mercy agreed, keeping her feelings from showing. "But that doesn't make him easy to live with."

"You live with him."

"Like I said, it isn't always easy." Amy was staring at a point on the floor, her brows scrunched together. She looked like she was thinking, but Mercy knew there was more to it.

"It was too good." Mercy almost missed the wistful words and was surprised by them. Just a second ago she'd been scenting anger and fear on the teenager, she'd honestly expected the girl to yell or cry, not sound like a daydreamer.

"What was too good?" By the way the girl blinked and scooted marginally away from Mercy, she assumed that she wasn't meant to hear her.

"Nothing."

There was too much that hadn't been explained, too many secrets that this Amy wanted to keep. Wolves didn't scare her in the least, and she seemed to know more than she was letting on. Mercy knew she needed more, but the beginnings of a theory were forming. It was too soon to act on it now. "Where are you planning on going?"

"What?"

"When you leave here, where do you plan to go? Can Sam call if he wants?"

The blank face quickly covered the pain and Amy shook her head. "No. He shouldn't call."

"So you can't tell me where you're going?" Another head shake. "Is it safe?"

If Amy had, had any idea what Mercy was she wouldn't have tried lying to her, but Amy didn't and Mercy was glad of that at this moment.

"Yes."

"Who will you be with?"

"My grandmother."

"Is she nice?" This time it was a nod, but the shoulders were too tense.

"Did she ask you to come back?"

"Yes." That was odd. She was lying.

"Does anyone else want you to come back?" She didn't lie when she said yes this time. So there were multiple people. "You know your dad would do anything for you to stay. Don't tell anyone, but he has ungodly amounts of money and power that he can use to help fight for you. Being a werewolf he's kinda strong too." Amy nodded forlornly so Mercy continued to try. "You know he'd probably do anything for you right?"

Amy smiled and shook her head. "I'm sure there's limits."

"Like what?" Mercy challenged.

"Like murder for one." She was serious, even though she was smiling she was serious.

"Depends on the circumstances," It would too. Sam wasn't above killing when killing needed to be done. She still remembered Gerry and his attempt to save his father.

"Alright, what about espionage?"

"Samuel taught me to hunt. He told me you needed to know your prey."

"I don't want to."

A crucial piece fell into place, though Mercy didn't get the whole picture yet. "You're spying on us?" Amy shook her head, but she was lying again. "Someone sent you to spy on the pack or just Sam?"

"I didn't spy," Amy defended. She would have been convincing if Mercy didn't have such a keen nose. "I didn't look through anything that wasn't mine and I kept to myself as much as I could." That was true.

"So you were sent to spy but didn't do your job." Amy didn't deny, confirming at least part of Mercy's theory. "You're grandmother sent you?"

"Please don't."

"I can't help if I don't know what the problem is, Amy."

"You can't help." Amy insisted. "Please don't."

Mercy could already see Amy retreating into herself and decided to call it a day. She'd call Sam back over tell him what she'd gotten, and leave it to him for a while.

A/N: Yay! I was stuck on this part for months! I wasn't sue how much I wanted to reveal at the moment. Next chapter is coming along, albeit slowly. I've been urging the plot bunnies along and I think I know which path to take now :) It's just a matter of getting it onto the screen and making it sound decent.

On other more important news, thank you for your reviews! I cherish each and every one of them for the encouragement they give. I'll try to get the next chapter written and posted asap since it's where all the action starts :) I'm so excited for it!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The door clicked shut lightly, a calm before the storm. "She's asleep. What did you find out?"

Mercy had insisted that she not share her findings until she was sure Amy wouldn't overhear. She had been thinking all night of where to start. Sam wasn't going to like all of what she had to say, but she knew the root of the problem, so she'd start there. "She doesn't _want_ to leave you Sam."

"She seemed fairly hell bent on it to me."

"She is," Mercy agreed, "but she doesn't _want _to. Not really." He didn't speak, giving her the opportunity to continue in her findings. "Her grandmother is the reason she came here, Sam. Amy said she wanted her to spy on us. I'm not sure why, she wouldn't say."

"She wants to leave because she feels she's protecting me?" Mercy nodded, and Sam sighed heavily.

"My question is why does her grandmother want to spy on the wolves."

"Wolves are public now, it could be anyone."

"But you're not." Mercy reminded him. "Her grandmother _knew _you were a wolf and sent her here. Not only that but Amy's too comfortable being around wolves to be new to the things that go bump in the night."

Sam nodded, "I thought so. She understands welsh."

That couldn't be good. A chill ran up Mercy's spine. Most people who spoke dead languages where either old enough to have seen it, or learned them so they could do some pretty nasty stuff. Like the vampire Cory Littleton. "I think Amy's in over her head, Sam." From his solemn look, so did he.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow. Maybe if I can convince her we can help, she'll be more willing to talk." Maybe, but Mercy doubted it. She could see the protective streak in Amy and it was strong enough to rival Sam's. She wasn't going to tell Sam that though.

The chill was still there. It felt foreign, unreal. Medea was sitting in front of Amy's door, looking expectantly at Mercy. The cat's owner got up from her comfortable position and walked over to the door. Quietly she opened it a crack and frozen. Burnt o zone. The room reeked of it, and suddenly so did the whole trailer. Sam was suddenly shoving past her, searching the room for any sign of Amy but the only sign left was an open window with some kind of bag hanging over it.

The crystal felt warm in her hands. Amy cupped them tightly around the necklace so as not to give away her position with the tiny light the gem was giving off. She stood alone on the water's edge, mostly hidden by the dark and vegetation that clung to the giant river. _Elliot, meet me on the river. They know I'm leaving. _She could feel his agitation and worry through the link the necklace provided. He could hear every word she wanted him to, but she could only feel his responses. They fae that had given her the necklace had proclaimed the reaction interesting, but had never explained it to her. Maybe it worked differently for her because she was human instead of fae, or maybe it was because it was so old.

_I'm safe for now. I covered my tracks. _The ward she'd hung in her room should keep everyone oblivious till morning at least. There was a possibility it could even hide her disappearance for even longer if they didn't bother to open the door. She'd heard the magic was so potent it could last up to a little over a week if need be.

Her assurance seemed to help a little, but not much. There was nothing more she could do though, so she let the magic of the gem fade away and placed it back around her neck. She sat on one of the large rocks on the bank and watched the black water of the river flow. It looked so calm and serene, but sinister as if it was trying too hard to hide something waiting to attack just below its surface. She knew they were close enough to the fae reservation that there could very well be some sort of flesh eating monster hiding in the river.

Thinking of monsters and water made her nervous. It wasn't likely that she'd need it, but all the same it made her feel better to have it on her person so she reached into her bag and pulled the deceptively small pocket knife, another fae gift, from her tin box. It was red, and small enough to fit in the middle of her palm at the moment but whenever she opened the knife it suddenly became four times bigger and Amy had yet to find something the knife couldn't cut through. She'd felt naked with its absence these past weeks. Now with it firmly grasped in her hands, she felt a little more whole again.

She'd only been expecting Elliot to come, maybe Kenny, but the sight of two extra flash lights didn't alarm her very much. If Elliot thought he needed to bring back up he was welcome to it. She sat still, trying to catch a glimpse of the faces coming her way. It was possible that it was the wolves, but if it was them she was as good as caught. She was fairly certain she couldn't outrun them and there was no way in hell she was jumping into that river.

Finally, the three people were close enough for her to see. Smiling in relief she hopped off her perch and went to quickly hug her older cousin. "Hey Elliot," she said into his warm chest. His hand patted her hair down as he held her loosely. "Hey kid." She waited for the peace that had once come with his presence to flow through her, to feel the comradeship take hold in her heart once more but it didn't come.

Hard, cold metal suddenly engulfed on wrist. Before Amy even had time to register the sensation fully pain erupted in her stomach and then there was a crack and more pain on her face. Both hands were forced behind her back and locked into the metal cuffs. Police issued cuffs were made off tough, but thin circles of metal but these were long enough to cover her entire wrist from top to bottom.

Elliot was saying something to the two men flanking him, she hadn't paid much attention to them before but she recognized the faces and it left her with a sick feeling in her stomach. Jared wasn't fond of shaving but it didn't make him look unattractive. Some women couldn't help but be charmed by his rough edge and bright blue eyes. He'd treated her like one of the guys. Tom looked miserable. He'd always been so morally inclined, a rarity in their world. It had been his most special feature, so special that Amy had considered him one of the most attractive of her friends despite his hefty size and scars. Tonight, neither of these men were her friend.

They helped to hoist her up off the ground. Elliot shoved a gag into her mouth and ripped the necklace from her neck and dropped it to the ground at their feet. "Get her to the car," he ordered with hushed authority. "I'll clean up here."

They had looked everywhere for her, even calling in Adam's pack to help search, but no one had seen hide or hair of his daughter since Sunday night. Samuel had called in to work, explaining that his daughter wasn't home yet and he was looking for her. One of the nurses had offered to ask around the hospital for him. So far, there was no lead. Not even her scent remained. From the minute she was off Mercy's property the scent vanished as if it was a wall separating one side of the fence from the other.

Mercy watched him closely as he paced Adam's kitchen. Every once in a while she would throw out some new place to look, like the high school or her garage, but each turned up empty and Sam was left feeling more helpless than before. He'd called his brother after the first hour and a half to help him track her down. Charles hadn't called back yet, but Bran had called a few hours ago saying that he was headed their way. There was a slight chance that his Da would be able to help track her down and at the moment Samuel was fairly certain that slim hope was the only thing keeping him together.

His phone rang and he flipped it open without looking. "Hello?"

"Um, is Amy there?" Sam blinked, unsure how this young male had gotten his number. A few other wolves sitting around the kitchen looked his way, and Mercy followed their lead.

"No, she isn't. Do you know where she is?"

"I don't know." Sam could hear the panic in the way his breath quickened. "But I think I can help point you in the right direction."

"Alright. What's your name?"

"I, um, I can't. Sorry, you'll have to just trust me."

He couldn't do that. Not when his daughter's life might depend on what this boy had to say. She hadn't trusted many people, and from the looks of their current situation he was beginning to appreciate why. However, the youth didn't seemed to be one of the less than trustworthy people his Amy had known. "You're her cousin, aren't you?" There was silence, as good as a confirmation. "She's not with her family?"

"No." Which meant this gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that Amy hadn't just run away was well warranted despite any optimistic assurances he'd received thus far.

"Where else could she be?"

"A lot of places," he cousin answered to Sam's dismay. "I don't even know the half of it, but I think I know the most likely."

"Where?" Sam repeated, catching Mercy's eye. She was demanding that Ben let her know what was being said, and God have mercy on Ben's soul if he left out any details. Any other time he would have laughed.

"She knows some people, kind of like a gang. I can check with them and see if Elliot took her there. If she's with them she's in good hands." The boy probably didn't even notice he'd let the name slip, but Sam knew better than to call him on it. He wanted the boy as loose lipped as possible.

"And if she's not?"

"Then we've got trouble, and it's probably the fae. There's a res up there right? I heard the pack has some kind of connection to it. Can you ask around and see if anyone's seen her?"

"I'll call Zee," Mercy proclaimed the minute Ben was done relaying.

"Yes, we can ask around."

"Alright, good. Just try to keep it low profile. If some people find out she's missing they'll go on the war path to find her. Literally." Sam wasn't sure if that was good or bad at this point, but motioned for Ben to pass the message on to Mercy.

"Do you know anything else? Anything at all?"

Amy's cousin didn't answer for a moment and Sam feared he may have hung up, but then the hesitant voice came back, barely above a whisper. "If I don't find anything by tonight I'll come to you." There was a click and the boy was gone.

A/N: Yes I realize that my chapters are on the short side, but I think I'm getting better. Especially since I'm getting to the god stuff now. I'm going to have to look back and make sure I don't contradict myself in upcoming chapters because I am deviating from my original path for this story, but not by too much.

I will try my best to get another chapter out soon, but classes started so it's slow going. I'm not taking a leave of absence, just toddling along at a snails pace. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll get the next part out as soon as I can!


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